New York
by Hello Sunshine
Summary: Danny Messer realizes that there are some things that hit us when we least expect them to. And we are grateful for the opportunities they provide.


A/N: A random, little piece I came up with. Danny/Aiden/Lindsay. I do not own the characters or CSI: NY. Enjoy!

He liked the way she tasted like beer and pizza; two things purely New York.

He liked the way she was tall, thin, and graceful; she was a ballerina and New York was her stage.

He liked the way she smelt like exhaust and cigarettes and a small hint of vanilla; the smells of New York with a tantalizing hint of what was underneath.

He liked her dark eyes and her dark hair; mysterious and brooding, the way New Yorkers liked.

She was always right, she never took no for an answer. She gave him hell and didn't stop to think about how impolite and bitchy she was being. She would rip into any random person on the street never stopping to think about the consequences. She was gorgeous and she knew it. She was pure New York and he thought he couldn't have gotten enough of the city of he had tried; but he had her night after night after night and he loved it. She experimented; every night was a different scenario with her. He was in heaven, because in Danny Messer's mind, New York was heaven.

Aiden Burns made him want to live in New York and never leave for his entire life. He would live in his apartment and she would live in hers and it would be an uncomplicated way of life and they would enjoy a relationship without worrying about all the burdens that generally came attached. Aiden didn't want tradition, she didn't want the expected; she wanted spontaneity and blood pumping adrenaline. Danny Messer was fine with this. He didn't want the responsibilities, he didn't want the routine. He wanted, like he had wanted his entire life, New York. And he had her. Danny Messer found he really had nothing to complain about.

And then she showed up.

And suddenly Danny Messer wanted more out of life then New York was able to give.

He likes the way she tastes like salad and white wine; something far more classy then he is used to.

He likes the way she is short, slim and often, clumsy; something that makes him laugh out loud in a childish way that he has not experienced since he was 12.

He likes the way she smells like a field of fresh flowers; something he has never seen in his entire life, except in pictures.

He likes her wavy, light brown hair and doe coloured eyes; open and trusting, something he has never known.

She is quiet and unassuming. She will concede if she realizes she is wrong, but she will put up a hell of a fight in the meantime. She can lecture him without really making it sound like he has done something really wrong. She will apologize to anyone on the street with a gentle smile and a soft wave, even if the person is long gone. She is beautiful and doesn't notice. She was everything he has never noticed; everything he has never expected. She would never be New York but she would stay there anyways, determined to make a life of her own. She was country and Danny Messer had always sworn off all forms of lower evolution then his precious city. He didn't have her yet; he spent night after night after night alone and thinking about her in many, many ways. And yet he doubted she would ever be as experimental as his fantasies; and that was more then fine. He knew she was in heaven and wondered where that left him; because if she was in heaven that meant New York certainly had a lot to work up to, himself included.

Lindsay Monroe made him want to leave New York and never come back. He wanted to see the wheat fields and the ranches and wanted to watch the sun set between the hills and not the skyscrapers. They would live together in a little ranch in the country and she would take his name and they would be happy. They would fight, but they would make up and they would want some alone time but in the vast spaces of the ranch, they could find more then enough space for the two of them….and maybe a few more. Lindsay wanted tradition; she was the epitome of it, she wanted kids and animals and a husband and a small home. Danny Messer was fine with this. And he surprised himself with just how fine he was with this. He would deal with the responsibilities because with responsibilities came perks that he could never have otherwise. And, really, stability was needed in a field like theirs. He wanted, like he never had, something other then New York. And he had yet to grab her. And Danny Messer found he was content to wait.

Lindsay Monroe was worth the wait, he was convinced of that.

So when he turned his back on New York, he was without regret.

He would miss the beer and the pizza.

He would miss the adrenaline pumping sex and earth shattering fights.

But he didn't miss it enough to go back. And when he finally turned around to look back at what he had left behind, Aiden Burns was gone. In her place was a shell of a person who still embodied everything that was New York. And Danny Messer realized that leading the New York life was self-destructive because nothing was as uncomplicated as it made it seem. It tore you apart from the inside out until there was nothing recognizable left and you were reverted to a justice seeking hulk of a human being that had people turning away from you on the streets.

Standing in the cemetery, looking down at her head stone, Danny Messer realized that Lindsay Monroe was his Guardian Angel, sent to save him from the same fate as Aiden. And he sent up a prayer of thanks that God had taken Aiden from that life quickly, because he couldn't have watched her suffer. He missed her terribly, and he knew he always would, but it was a with a nostalgic air that he looked back on her and knew that if he had stuck around in her life, he wouldn't have been able to save her from herself. And that was something that would have haunted him for the remainder of his life. So when he walked away, past the lines of his colleagues looking on in sad remorse at their fallen comrade, he walked towards Lindsay Monroe, waiting by the car in respect for her colleagues. He was walking towards his future, his angel and he vowed to never forget what he learned from New York. It would help him appreciate his country life more fully then he could have before.

And God knew he was going to need all the patience and insight he could get.

Lindsay Monroe was their future. He just needed to get her to realize it too.

END


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